Project 8-Ball - 2.2 Trail (Class 3) FJ40 for 2015

[dna4engr]

I've had the plans in place for this build for a while. I've been a fan of old FJ 40's forever. I've always wanted one and when I was thinking about next season figured its time.

There are many great ones on here and I'm just looking to try and add to the legacy. The primary inspiration is from the home page for TCS crawlers. The rig I'm building has to be everything from a scale crawler to a trail rig to a TTC competitor and seeing that FJ plowing through the mud is fricken cool.



Also found some great 1:1 rigs on line to take some features from.



Plan from the word go is a complete custom frame with a target weight of 8lbs rtr. Last 2.2 rig was over 10 lbs and it just couldn't crawl competitively.

Drivetrain comes from my old 2.2 TTC rig:
Bombproof trans, roc412, mmp
Dlux wraith housings, beef tubes, axial unis, dlux front knuckles, vanquish lockers

Handful of new and old parts will finish her off:
Kms k3 free spool winch
Holmes hobbies servo v2
Dinky rc axle servo mount
Castle bec
TSS trail ready beadlocks with proline super swamper xl and TSS trail ready beadlock rings
Crawler innovations foams
CI 6bolt wheels and standard proline super swampers for comps.
Tamiya landcruiser lexan body kit
TSS smooth skid

Now on to the build.
I only planned to use the hood and side panels.



Frame started out with some 3/8" square tubing and bent the front half of the chassis. Then split it in half with a cut off wheel.







I threw the tires on the axles to get the body positioned. Wheelbase is between 12.75 and 13" right now. Just where I want it.





Should be able to start on the cage tube work tomorrow. Going to be 3/16" Dom tubing.



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[northkona]

Great start , when I first saw the thread I was hoping it wasnt one of those ugly-bastard new FJ's ,I love the old school ones too.
Great parts selection, if I could ever stop building damn U4 rigs I'd love to do one of these.

[dna4engr]

Got some decent time to work on this today.

First thing was the rock sliders. I used solid 3/16" rod here for taking rock dings. I left the upward bend tapered to sleeve it with 3/16" dom tubing.



Then got to work on the bumper and brush guard. Used 3/8" square to close the frame out and made the stinger out of 3/16 rod for abuse. The rest of the brush guard surround is 3/16 dom. Cut about 3/4" off the front of the chassis rails.



Then I lined the fender wells from the sliders to the brush guard.



Started on the cab area next.





Basic rear hoop in place and I'm done for today. Threw the axles back in for show and tell.





Not sure if I'll get more done before Christmas but I'll try.



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[dna4engr]

Christmas is over so its back to the lab again.

Some tube work behind the cab.



Then I started fitting the upper links and determined is need some tall link mounts in front and wanted something to allow anti squat in the rear. Enter some mattzilla weld tabs.



Rear shocks will be mounted to the cage. Made some filler plates and figured id braze them on before bed.





Not a ton of structural work left. Hopefully I can get this into a roller by tomorrow.




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[Ballistic17]

Nice looking build. Gonna look good when done.

[dna4engr]

Fabbed up some shock hoops. Used some more of the weld tabs from mattzilla.



Finally got her to slider status. Mocked up with some cap modded big bores.



Lots of little things to finish in the fabrication. Hope to get her in the blasting booth tomorrow.




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[dna4engr]

I had to come up with a way to mount the winch up front that wouldn't add a lot of weight. I took some 1/" dom tubing and hammered down the ends for flats. Then cut out a channel 3/16" wide so I could braze it to a cross member. Super strong and not nearly as heavy as the normal 1/2" flat stock I use.



Now it is time to button up all the loose ends. Added some support for the 4link mounts.



Then I added the flared brake line to the center of the bumper for the winch line



V bars to support the roof



Finished the roof off.



Some more support pieces here and there, And now we're done with the structure



One of the scale features I really wanted to include on this were tubular half doors that were functional so I could remove them like you would on a real rig.

I started with a piece of 3/16" dom and tapped one end with 3mm thread. Then drill 1/8 on the other end and put a piece of 1/8" solid rod and brazed it in.





Next was getting the weld tabs brazed to the door frame.



After that all I had to do was cut one piece and bend another and we have one half door complete.



On the truck.



And swung open.



I do plan to skin these with some canvas material. Just need to figure out how as I'm not much of a sewer.

I had planned to start sandblasting it today but its bitch ass cold out and I'm not going in the garage.


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[Hoosierdady]

Nice work man. Love the opening doors.

[dna4engr]

Time to get some mechanical work done.

Since I snapped the vanquish vvd in the swamp rat (gen 1 vvd and where it broke isn't any beefier on the new v2). I decided to go tried and true axial unis.



I had hoped to run the servo horn down on the dinky link with the steering rod up high but it wasn't going to work so I put the horn up and got the axle back together.
New bearings, 38/13 HD gears and an fi spool compliment the beef tubes and dlux housing and knuckles already there.
Also I am going to try the DMG front diff skid. It is super beefy. Well see how it works on the rocks. Too many hangups and it'll be just for trail runs and bashing.



So I threw the electronics in to test drive. Absolutely love the setup so far. Phenomenal incline.



Pretty decent side hill angles. Probably need to lower the front end. Plus the swaybar may get me another half degree.



The cresting capability is outrageous with the 12.75" WB and 5.8" tires. I have one spot not covered in snow outside and all my other rigs need to rock bounce up this (except the xr10) but this thing made it with some mild throttle and its frickin 8* outside.

More to come....


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[northkona]

Trucks looking great, be good to see it running.
I cant imagine what 8 deg feels like, its about 95 here and 90% humidity .

[Stormin2u]

Looks like a beast Dana we're going to have to up our game for 2015.

Happy New Year.

[dna4engr]

Originally Posted by northkona

Trucks looking great, be good to see it running.
I cant imagine what 8 deg feels like, its about 95 here and 90% humidity .

Thanks! 8* is just about as bad as you think it is. Although, not as bad as -20* F. It's all perspective

Originally Posted by Stormin2u

Looks like a beast Dana we're going to have to up our game for 2015.

Happy New Year.

Happy New Year to you too Norm. I'm anxious to get this thing on some rocks and get to tweaking to dial her in. As she sits right now RTR weight is 8 lbs. If I switch over to a lighter battery and my CI 6bolt wheel/tire combo, I think I can get it down to 6.5lb.

[BigBaller]

Done yet? I know you bought parts today.

[dna4engr]

Originally Posted by BigBaller

Done yet? I know you bought parts today.

It may be done but you'll have to wait for me to tell the story in a very long drawn out manner


I started to button up some details last night.

The kms freespool winch is an awesome tool to have. At one of the last G6 style events, I ran the spool all the way out and it has no anchor on the spool for the cable. I believe kms glued it to the spool. The non free spool versions have an anchor hole. There isn't a lot of extra material on the free spool version.



I drilled a 1/16" hole on the inboard spool side.



Then drilled a 7/64" counterbore behind it



Fed the winch line thru and tied a not. Then heated the excess cable and melted it into the counterbore hole.



Next it was body prep for paint.



And the chassis is painted and ready for assembly.





More to come.


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[BigBaller]

Nice work.

On the winch line...

I unspooled the line all the way out, then took a sharpie and made marks on the line to let me know I'm getting to the end. Your idea is very nice but will make the winch line now go the opposite way when it hits the end...meaning start going in.

[dna4engr]

Originally Posted by BigBaller

Nice work.



On the winch line...



I unspooled the line all the way out, then took a sharpie and made marks on the line to let me know I'm getting to the end. Your idea is very nice but will make the winch line now go the opposite way when it hits the end...meaning start going in.

I normally mark the line for that very reason. One thing about a free spool though is they you get a lot of winch line super fast and you end up at the end of the spool in about 1.5 seconds if you're in a hurry.

Couple snaps of progress on the finishing work.

Body is painted and grill installed. Some more decals to add yet.



Also picked up some .025" aluminum sheet to make rear panels and the interior.
Side panels that wrap around.



Got more to do and more time tomorrow night.


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[KMS]

Been watch-in your build ,,gonna be a nice rig ,,, Good idea on the spool to hold the line ,,I will keep this one on file for the guys that don't like glue method,,,, Robert

[gunder463]

way cool build

[dna4engr]

Boring update.

Made the floor pan. Wanted to keep it simple so I could get it in and out easily.



Battery tray. Made this to be able to hold 3s and 4s 2200 packs.



Firewall is next. I will be adding some dash items and a steering wheel.



Didn't take a picture but my wild willy and team 3six replica seats I made fit pretty well.




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[sam63]

Dang, this is lookin great! Kind of like something I would build. Good call on the winch spool. I need to do the same with mine....now where did those counterbore bits go....